Challenges are part of life. For many of us Pinoys, more so than ever with the recent 6.9 magnitude earthquake that hit the Visayas in September, and the typhoons that made landfall one after the other in November that caused floods which inundated towns and cities. All three—the earthquake, Typhoon Tino, and Typhoon Uwan—came at night when many people were asleep. And all these came to pass when the country is deeply mired in discussions about flood control projects that are either substandard or non-existent. Billions of pesos have disappeared into bottomless pockets…grimly counterpointed by the disappearance or wreckage of homes of thousands of Filipinos.
So much loss overwhelming so many people, many of whom had hardly anything to their name or who had painstakingly built what they had over years of hard work. All gone in just a matter of hours. The devastation is crippling.
It is not easy to write about Christmas gaiety against this backdrop. But the Pinoy will always plod on with that famous Filipino resilience. I hope people in power will stop taxing that resilience, and just finally give the people their due. All Pinoys have the right to live a good life and partake of the bountiful nature of our islands, as well as the potential development that the country has not yet fulfilled.
Christmas 2025
Christmas lights are starting to glow in public areas, and people are trying to get back some normalcy into their lives if and when they can.
For this Christmas, we made four special videos. We asked writer Eljay Castro Deldoc to write four Tagalog poems. The production team used digital animation with experimental techniques, which combines the digital and physical world by creating digitally made animation with mixed media. (By the way, did you see Boysen’s first AI P-Pop group?)
For this Christmas video, the team shot the human element, then juxtaposed the shots to images to form a scene. Then the whole video was broken down into more than 800 frames. Each frame was then painted by hand using Boysen paints. After painting, the painted frames were scanned, then stitched back together digitally to form the final video.
It took longer than expected because of the earthquake and typhoons. But we are proud to present this result.
Ibang Kulay ng Umaga
This is the first poem written by Eljay.
Flashlight, hindi lusis, ang pailaw na hawak ko
ilang minuto bago sumapit ang Pasko.
Sa gabing ito, ilan kaya kaming ang tanging kapiling
ay ang malulungkuting mga gusaling ibinilin sa amin?
Pagtingala ko sa mga bituin, sanlaksang kuwitis ang sumagitisit—
gumuhit ang liwanag sa itim na langit.
Sa sandaling ang lahat ay tuluyang mahimbing,
diwa ko ay nananatiling gising:
sa gabing ito ay napagtanto na ang pag-iisa
ay hindi laging nangangahulugan ng kawalan ng saya.
Sa mga kagaya ko, ito ay mahigpit na pagkapit
sa pag-asa na bukas ay iba na ang kulay ng umaga.
If you don’t understand Tagalog, this is the English translation.
A flashlight—not a sparkler’s gleam—
my only light, before the dream
of Christmas reaches this night’s brim.
How many of us, left behind,
keep lonely buildings as our kind?
I look above—the stars are lit,
a shower of lights hiss and flit,
their colors streak the sky of pitch.
While all the world drifts off to sleep,
my waking thoughts their vigil keep.
Tonight I learn, when all seems bare,
that solitude can still be fair.
For those like me, it means to stay,
and hold to hope in our own way—
that come tomorrow’s dawning light,
the morning blooms in colors bright.
Light and Bright Colors
We chose these colors for “Ibang Kulay ng Umaga”. When the world seems dark, manifest a lighter, brighter, hopeful world. We can also do that with colors.
Color psychology is powerful and effective. If you want to read up more about it, follow this link.
“…sa gabing ito ay napagtanto na ang pag-iisa ay hindi laging nangangahulugan ng kawalan ng saya. Sa mga kagaya ko, ito ay mahigpit na pagkapit sa pag-asa na bukas ay iba na ang kulay ng umaga.”
Let your heart be light this Christmas. The dawn will come.
